How Robert Guillaume Took the "Stench" Off His Most Famous Role

When Robert Guillaume first received the script for ABC's series Soap, he wasn't happy with the character he was being asked to play: Benson, a butler who waited on a wealthy white family in the fictional town of Dunn's River, Connecticut.

Robert, who made his name in TV, film and Broadway, saw the role as a step backward. He had to take a hard look at the script before he started to see the redeeming qualities.

"When I got the role of Benson, I was not the happiest camper," Robert says. "I had reservations because you're serving food, you're serving a family and all that sort of thing, and it thrusts you back in time. It's as though nothing has changed since 1800. But then the more I examined the role and read the script, I figured out a way to take some of the stench off the idea."

In 1979, two years before Soap was canceled, the character got his own spin-off show, Benson, which lasted until 1986. Today, Robert is most remembered for playing the sarcastic butler.